Alpha-prime 24601
by Ares
Summary: He is the ultimate hunter. Trained. Merciless. Brainwashed...


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Disclaimer: the X-Men don't belong to me. They belong to Marvel, Stan Lee, Bryan Singer and probably some other people that I'm forgetting. But nobody reads these things so I guess it doesn't matter. Just for the record, **_I_** don't own the X-Men but if I did I'd treat them a lot better than their real owners do.

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Claimer: I do own Evan, the Alpha-primes, the Zenith, Dr. Jessica Russell and any other character you don't recognise. They're mine. Don't steal them. If you want them, feel free to ask me and I'll most likely say yes, but most of them are so screwed up you wouldn't want them anyway.

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Author's Note: I realise that hardly anyone calls Rogue 'Marie', or Jubilee 'Jubilation', but Evan doesn't like codenames. And although Kitty's real name is Katherine, Kitty isn't a codename so he calls her that.

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One More Author's Note: the X-Men aren't a **huge** part of this. They are in the main body of the story, but the main character isn't an X-Man (not in the beginning anyway) and it's more like **his** story than theirs. Which I think they can handle because they already have lots of stories about them.

****

Alpha-prime 24601

15-year-old Evan Remington glanced in the mirror of the car and sighed. His father still wore that furious expression, the one that told Evan he'd better go along with whatever his father was doing or expect another huge argument.

He stared out the window, wondering why his father had insisted he and his twin sister Kimberley come with him on this 'trip'. Normally Vincent Remington couldn't care less what his children did, but today he'd called the chauffeur and told Evan and Kimberley that they were visiting someone.

"Evan, where are we going?" Kimberley asked. Evan smiled at his sister, even though his father's behaviour was confusing him as well.

"I don't know, Kim. I guess Dad wants it to be a surprise."

Kimberley looked afraid. "D'you think it might be because of our…" she lowered her voice, "**_powers_**?"

"I don't think so, Kim. Unless you've been telling everyone what you can do, I doubt Dad knows about it," Evan replied, glancing at the privacy screen between his father and them. "You're usually pretty careful about when and where you use your powers, so I don't think anyone should know about them."

Kimberley sighed and leaned on Evan's right shoulder. "If Daddy knew, he wouldn't want to be our father anymore, would he?"

"I don't think he'd be like that, Kim," Evan said, even though he honestly wasn't sure. He'd always suspected that his father wasn't always a very good person, despite the image he put on in front of his family. Evan had seen Vincent act like racist, a bigot and a homophobic before, and he wouldn't be surprised if their father didn't want to know them if he found out that they were mutants.

"Will you take care of me, whatever happens?" Kimberley asked. "Even if Daddy doesn't love me anymore because of what I can do, will you?"

Evan hugged his sister. "Of course I will, Kim. You know that. Besides, we're the same. We can both do stuff we're not supposed to." He cracked a grin. "I'm just lucky Dad hasn't figured out where all the iron nails keeps disappearing to."

Kimberley grinned. "I still can't believe you have to eat stuff with so much iron in it. At least I can still eat what I normally do."

Evan smiled down at her. "See, you can still joke about it. We're a lot better off than some mutants, Kim. You know that."

The car jerked to a stop and he heard his father get out. The left-side door opened and his father snapped, "get out of the car."

Kimberley grabbed Evan's hand in an unbreakable hold as they both slid out of the car. Evan glanced around and frowned. There was a large building that had the appearance of an office block or a small hospital. Wherever they were, it was totally unfamiliar to him.

To Kimberley, too. Her brow furrowed and she asked, "where are we, Daddy?"

"Somewhere where people can do something about those mutations you two have," Vincent Remington said gruffly. Evan's eyes widened as he saw the hate in his father's eyes. Surely their own father wouldn't condemn them for being born differently?

"But how did you… of course. Stephanie told you, didn't she?" Kimberley asked bitterly. Stephanie was Vincent's second wife. Evan and Kimberley's mother had died a year ago, and Vincent had barely waited two months before marrying Stephanie, a woman half his age. The woman hated Evan and Kimberley, and Evan was of the opinion she thought kids should jump from ten to twenty in one day.

"I won't hear anything against Stephanie," Vincent said, "but yes, she did tell me about you two. And I'm ashamed that you don't feel you can trust me enough to confide in me."

"Can you blame us?" Evan asked. "If your reaction is to freak out, why would we tell you?"

The door to the large building opened and four white-clad men walked out. They looked like orderlies in a hospital, except for the guns tucked into their waistbands.

Kimberley gasped, "Daddy, what's going on?"

"You're going to go with these men. They can do something about those mutations you two were unfortunate enough to be born with," Vincent said emotionlessly.

Evan muttered, "like hell we are," and formed a metal blade from the high levels of iron and organic metal deposits in his bloodstream. Kimberley stretched out her hand and two of the guns flew to her hand as she manipulated the metal, using the magnetic field that she created. But the other guards were too fast, drawing their guns and getting off a few shots before Kimberley spun their guns out of their hands.

Two of the bullets hit Kimberley's left arm and she went down with a cry of pain. Two of the guards tackled Evan, driving him to the ground and holding his arms behind his back.

**__**

"What is the meaning of this?"

A calm, cold voice spoke above the clamour. One of the guards replied, "they attacked, Doctor Russell. We are merely subduing them."

"By half-killing them? This is **_not_** what I expect, soldier, and you know that very well."

"Yes, Doctor Russell. It won't happen again," the same guard said.

"Good. Now help that girl up and get these two booked in," Dr. Russell said. The guards pulled Evan to his feet. A few metres away, another guard was supporting Kimberley, who was bleeding profusely from her wounds.

Dr. Russell was a tall woman with thick black hair and cold grey eyes behind steel-rimmed glasses. She was wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around her neck. She met Evan's eyes and smiled toothily.

"I'm terribly sorry about my men, child. They get a little overzealous. But perhaps if you didn't use your powers against them they would be more charitable toward you and your sister."

Evan turned to look at his father. "How much did you tell them?" he demanded.

Vincent looked uncomfortable. "What they needed to know, Evan. This is for your own good. Just go along with it."

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Evan asked humourlessly as the guards led him and his sister into the brick building. 

Kimberley suddenly thrust her elbow into her guard's solar plexus and twisted out of his grasp. She extended her hand and a gun leapt into it. She fired rapidly, taking down two of the guards within seconds. However, one of the others pressed the barrel of his gun against Evan's temple and shouted, "drop the gun or I kill him!"

Kimberley looked at Evan, her eyes asking him what to do. He yelled, "get out of here, Kim! Run!"

"I can't leave you, Evan!"

"I'll be all right. Just get out of here! I'll find you when I can," Evan shouted. Choking back tears, Kimberley ran. One of the guards made to go after her, but Dr. Russell held up a hand, gesturing for the man to remain.

"Forget her. We have the more powerful one."

Evan watched as Kimberley vanished from his sight.

It would be the last time he saw his sister for a long, long time.

^^^

__

Ten Years Later…

Evan slammed Sarah against the brick wall and hissed, "nice try, Sarah. You think nobody's pulled that on me before?"

The dark-haired woman struggled against his hold. Despite the fact that she was easily a head taller than he was, Evan held her in an unbreakable grip. He grinned coldly and formed a metal blade, holding it to her throat. "If I wanted to, Sarah, I could kill you now. The superiors wouldn't particularly care; you're worse than useless to them. What good is conversing with animals?"

A whip cracked the air above his head. "What is going on here?!" an angry voice thundered. Evan dematerialised the blade and moved away from Sarah as Dr. Russel strode into the room, followed by six guards.

Dr. Russell stopped in front of Evan and Sarah. "You two again. Will you never learn to work together?"

The two mutants said nothing, their eyes fixed on the wall beyond Dr. Russell's head. She strode forward and slapped Evan's face. The young man glared at her, eyes snapping angrily, but Dr. Russell simply raised a hand to gesture the guards forward and Evan lowered his eyes. Dr. Russell gestured to the guards to halt and shook her head.

"You two are so full of anger. Why do continue to fight? You are both my children, trained by those I trust. When will you use that training for something other than to spill each other's blood?"

Evan and Sarah didn't answer. Dr. Russell gestured to the guards and four moved forward. They raised their guns and used the butts to force Evan and Sarah against the wall. The two mutants raised little resistance, not with Dr. Russell there. Not even when the guards swung the butts of their rifles and used them as clubs.

Dr. Russell watched her guards abuse the two mutants with a slight smile on her face. After at least ten minutes, she raised her hand again and the guards moved back.

"You two required punishment. That is not the only reason I am here, though."

She paced the width of the room, letting her words sink in to the dozen mutants standing there. When she was sure she had their full attention, she continued, "there is a place in Westchester, just outside of New York, where mutants may go for refuge from the humans who would kill us. They have amazing technology there, including a machine they call Cerebro. This allows them to locate mutants anywhere in the world, providing they have a powerful enough telepath. My superiors want plans to this device, or the entire device, whichever can be attained without detection.

"However, the mansion has extremely good security. Therefore, the mutant I select will need to be able to bypass it without detection. Despite the need to fight that he demonstrated, I believe Alpha-prime 24601 is best-equipped for the mission."

Evan looked up, wiping blood from his mouth, his face expressionless. "As you wish, Doctor."

"You will prepare for this mission and leave tonight. Keep in radio contact every twenty-four hours. We expect this mission to take no more than a week, Alpha-prime 24601."

"As you wish."

^^^

Evan glanced at the four guards in the back of the armoured vehicle. They'd been ordered to make sure he made it to Westchester safely, but he suspected Dr. Russell had ordered them to make sure he didn't hurt the driver of the vehicle. Much as he hated to admit it, Evan knew he was a violent person. He didn't know where the surges of violence came from, but when he was in the throes of a berserker episode, nobody was safe unless they had a good weapon.

Evan eased his jacket off bruised shoulders and settled down to wait, closing his eyes and going over the mission. It would be a fairly long drive to Westchester, but once there the mission wouldn't take long. He would attain the objective and perhaps alleviate some of his guilt over disobeying direct orders given by Dr. Russell.

Evan slept, dreaming of nothing.

^^^

**__**

Three Days Later…

Evan stepped out of the elevator and glanced around quickly before moving into the shadows. The information he'd been given indicated that the Cerebro chamber was at the end of a corridor, but all the halls in this place looked the same.

He shrugged. The objective was to obtain the device, or plans to the device, and he wouldn't be leaving until he had secured the objective.

He made his way down the darkened hall, irises expanding to let in more light. He shifted his grip on the organic metal dagger and kept his weight on the balls of his feet, treading lightly. His dark clothing blended into the shadows, making him hard to spot.

His movements were less graceful than usual, due to the bruises and cuts over most of his body. He disregarded them. He'd earned the punishment. Dr. Russell had told them not to fight amongst themselves several times, and he and Sarah had disobeyed those orders. It was only fitting that he be punished for it.

Evan heard a sound behind him. He turned almost faster than the eye could follow, creating another metal dagger as he moved. He dropped into a defensive crouch, appraising his opponents.

A man and a woman, both not that much older than him. The man wore a red-lensed visor covering his eyes. Evan swore to himself. These two had to be two of the mutants he'd been warned about.

Evan sniffed, scenting the air for any other opposition. There was nothing to suggest any other mutant was nearby, nor any humans. He hadn't been able to smell humans since approaching the mansion.

The man spoke, his voice gentle, as if coaxing a dangerous animal back into it's cage. "Just relax. Drop the knives and we'll have a little talk. Nobody has to get hurt."

Evan hissed, affronted at the suggestion that he abandon the objective. Almost subconsciously, he formed organic metal gauntlets over his hands, spikes above the knuckles. He triggered the mechanism in his boots that let blades slide out of the toes with a metallic-sounding _snick_ and rose, ready to fight.

The man swore under his breath. "Jean, I don't think he's in the mood to talk."

Again, Evan moved faster than the eye could follow. The woman raised her hand and he felt as though he was moving through syrup, sluggish and slow-moving. He snarled and lashed out with spiked knuckles, slashing the woman's arm and drawing blood. She cried out and he was free to move normally again.

He turned on the man, adrenaline surges enabling the heat-sensing receptors in his eyes. He'd been trained to secure the objective before engaging in physical combat, and failure rankled deeply. He wanted revenge on those who had caused him to slip up like this.

But these two were unlike any foes he'd fought before. They were stronger than humans, but their strength was negligible when compared to his own, built up by the trainers. Yet he couldn't gain the upper hand. Neither could they.

The man grabbed Evan's right wrist and pressed down hard on the tendons, trying to paralyse his fingers. Evan slashed the back of the man's hand with his other dagger, at the same time twisting so he faced the woman and using the force of the man's hold to flip him over his back and send him crashing to the floor.

Realising that keeping the daggers made him unable to use his hands to his advantage, Evan dematerialised them, taking the iron and metal back into his bloodstream and leaving the metal spikes over his knuckles. The woman glanced at the man, who was already getting to his feet, and then locked eyes with Evan. He felt something inside his mind, but he'd been trained to withstand psychic probing and ignored it.

He went to slash at the woman, but something stopped his movement. His brow furrowed as he stared at his hand, then shook his head more violently this time and tried to return to fighting.

He couldn't control his own body. There was someone inside his head, keeping the messages from his brain reaching his limbs. He heard the woman cry, "Scott, I can't hold him for long!"

So she was causing this. She was preventing him from securing the objective.

She had to go.

Evan gathered all his power, focusing on the thought that this red-haired woman was in the way of the objective. His vision tunneled, so that all he could see was her. And he thrust out the power, creating a metal blade that spun toward her almost faster than he could track it.

A beam of red light knocked it out of the air. Another sent Evan crashing into the wall, striking his head hard. His vision swam, swirling with black dots. He was dimly aware of them both standing over him, but then the world fell away and he knew nothing.

^^^

Evan woke with a start, aware that something was wrong. The objective was in danger, he knew that, but he didn't know why or how. Just that he had to fix it or receive the punishment for failure.

He started to rise but couldn't. He opened his eyes and hissed angrily. His wrists and ankles were secured to the bed he lay on, and the spiked metal gauntlets lay on a bench nearby. He was in a room that reminded him of the operating theatre in the base.

A door at the far end opened and the red-haired woman walked in, followed by the man with the visor and a bald man in a wheelchair. Evan snarled and lunged at them. Held at bay by his restraints, he focused his power and a blade of metal flew toward them. The woman raised her hand and the blade halted in mid-air. She picked it out of the air and placed it on a table.

The three mutants came over to Evan's bedside. He bared his teeth in a snarl and fought against the restraints, drawing blood from already-raw wrists.

The bald man said gently, "relax, my friend. We don't mean to harm you."

Evan stopped fighting for a moment. That word… **_friend_**… 

He licked chapped lips and spoke. "What is… friend?"

The three exchanged worried glances. The woman replied, "a friend is someone who cares about you. Someone you care about. Who'd never hurt you and who'd do anything to keep you safe."

Evan's brow furrowed as he considered her words. "I don't understand."

"Never mind. Look, my name is Jean Grey. These two are Professor Charles Xavier and my fiancé, Scott Summers."

"What is a fiancé?"

This time it was Scott Summers who answered. "Someone you're going to marry."

Evan was about to ask another question when Professor Xavier interrupted. "We'll explain things later. Can you tell us your name?"

"I am Hunter. My designation is Alpha-prime 24601," Evan said. It was all he was permitted to give up in a situation such as this. They'd all been trained to give no more than their codename and designation, even under torture.

Jean Grey frowned. "Designation? Professor, he sounds like a soldier or something."

"I will give you no more information," Evan told them. "You may torture me when you wish, but I will tell you nothing."

"We're not going to torture you," Scott Summers said. "We want to help you."

"I require no help."

"You have bruises all over your body," Jean Grey said. "Six of your ribs are cracked and you have traces of some sort of drug in your system, as well as extremely high levels of iron and some sort of organic metal. With the amount of metal in your bloodstream it's a wonder you're still alive."

"You're a doctor," Evan stated flatly. "How else would you know these things?"

"You're right, I am a doctor. And I want to help heal you. But I can't do that until you tell me how, Hunter," Jean Grey said. Evan let his gaze sweep over the doctor, taking in her appearance. Now that he knew she was a doctor, he could see through Jean Grey's false image of a gentle, pretty red-haired woman. All doctors were cold-blooded.

Like Dr. Russell. A shudder ran through Evan's body as he thought about the woman who had trained him and the other Alpha mutants, who had ordered all those tests, experiments and treatments to make them stronger. It was for their own good and Evan knew that, but his body still had an adverse reaction to mention of the doctor.

He closed his eyes. "I'll tell you nothing. I won't betray the objective."

Jean Grey sighed. "All right. We'll talk again later, Hunter."

^^^

Jean walked into the infirmary later that night, accompanied by Scott. Evan was lying listlessly in the bed, his green-grey eyes staring at the ceiling. His wrists were raw and bleeding and he'd obviously been fighting the restraints again. Jean sighed and picked up a roll of bandaging and a bottle of antiseptic lotion.

Evan turned his eyes to her as she approached. He glanced at Scott, curiosity flickering in his eyes before he noticed what Jean was carrying. He shrank back from her, baring his teeth in a dog-like snarl.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Jean promised. "I just want to bandage your wrists. You've hurt them."

Evan's eyes flicked to his bleeding wrists before moving back to Jean, fear and anger prominent in them. Scott touched Jean's shoulder. "Maybe you should let me do that. He probably doesn't trust doctors. I can't imagine why, but I can understand his being apprehensive around us."

Jean shrugged and handed Scott the bandages and antiseptic lotion. Scott approached the bed, saying, "my name is Scott Summers, we met earlier. I'm not a doctor, so you don't need to worry that I'll hurt you. I just want to fix your wrists. Will you let me do that?"

Evan didn't reply, but he relaxed slightly. Scott carefully undid one of the leather restraints. Jean noticed and asked, "are you sure you should do that?"

"He's not going to hurt me," Scott replied, swabbing some of the antiseptic onto Evan's bleeding wrist, frowning when he saw a white scar running from Evan's wrist to his elbow. He checked the other arm and saw an identical white scar.

Evan hissed between clenched teeth but didn't pull away, letting Scott bandage each wrist and reclasp the restraints.

"There, that wasn't so bad," Scott said, turning and placing the bottle of antiseptic on a table. "Can you tell me why you're afraid of Jean, Hunter?"

"Doctors are cold-blooded," Evan muttered, not meeting their eyes. "You can't trust them."

"Jean isn't like that," Scott said. "She wouldn't hurt you or anyone else."

"Can't trust you either. You're just trying to make me talk."

"Hunter, you don't have to tell us why you were here. But we would like to know who hurt you so badly," Jean said softly. "You don't have to protect them."

"I won't betray my superiors," Evan hissed. "My purpose is to attain the objective. If I can't do that, I must keep the location of my superiors a secret. You'll learn nothing from me."

A shudder wracked his body. Scott asked, "are you all right? Are you sick or something?"

Evan refused to answer him. He glanced at Jean, frustrated. "Hunter, we can't help you unless you tell us how."

"You'll learn nothing from me," he repeated, closing green-grey eyes. "I will not betray my superiors."

Scott sighed and stood up. "We're not going to get anything out of him tonight," he told Jean. "Maybe one of the others will be able to get through to him."

They headed up to the Professor's office, where Storm and Xavier were waiting. Jean said, "as far as I can tell, he's about twenty-five, with severe injuries to most of his body. The injuries could have been caused by any number of blunt objects, but from the shapes of some of the bruises I'm guessing rifle butts. Which leads me to believe he's in the same boat as Logan was; someone's trying to make mutants into weapons."

"They've succeeded with Hunter," Scott said, rubbing his ribs. "He was stronger than me and Jean put together last night. He could have killed me when he threw me, if he wanted to. With his powers he'd never need to take a weapon anywhere; he can pretty much create whatever he needs. When Jean and I spoke to him just now he seemed to honestly believe that we would torture him for information. He behaves like a soldier, except for his fear of doctors. I can understand that, though."

"There's something wrong with him. He seems sick," Jean added. "We thought maybe one of the students would be able to get through to him. I doubt even he'd believe children would work for whoever he's afraid we are. He also has a tattoo on his right forearm; the letter A and the digits 24601. I think it's some kind of identification code. And his arms are scarred in such a way that suggests he tried to take his own life at least once."

"Professor, isn't there anything you can do for him?" Storm asked.

"Not until he learns to trust us. If I force my way into his mind, it could cause us both great damage, and it will affirm his belief that we will hurt him to gain information. I don't want to shatter what trust he might have."

^^^

Evan gritted his teeth as another shudder coursed through his body. This happened regularly in the base, and the doctors there had always given him some sort of injection that burned in his veins but made the tremors pass. He didn't know what was in the needles they injected him with, but they made the tremors relent and that was all he cared about. Once he'd missed his regular treatment and the tremors had been so bad he couldn't stand or stomach food. He'd been unconscious for several days afterward, and it had taken weeks for his normal strength to build up again. The doctors had given him steroid boosts to help his muscles regain tone and strength, but most of it had been up to nature. And nature took a long time.

The shudder finally ended and Evan collapsed against the pillows, breathing deep and slow.

The door opened and a young man and a girl walked in. Evan studied them, trying to match their descriptions to those given to him as dangerous opponents. But there had been no files on a guy with sandy hair and a friendly smile, no files on a girl wearing gloves with a white streak in auburn hair.

They weren't much older than sixteen or seventeen, almost ten years younger than he was. But while he could tell they had lived through things that would have defeated lesser people – most mutants had – their faces held an innocence that was devoid at the base. All the mutants there knew what was going on, what they were going to go through. All accepted it.

Evan frowned. There had been one girl… Sandy… who hadn't accepted Dr. Russell's authority. He didn't remember what had happened to her, but he'd never seen her after she challenged the doctor.

These two reminded him of her. Maybe they were worth talking to.

He raised his eyes and met theirs. The guy smiled and said, 'hi, I'm Bobby. This is Rogue."

Evan caught the 'mutant' name and asked, "do you have a real name, Rogue?"

"Do you?" the girl replied, her chin lifted in a challenge, brown eyes meeting his.

"I am Hunter."

"Yeah, we know that," Rogue said. "But do you have a real name? I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"Evan. Hunter is my codename. I use it on missions."

"Do you have any family?" Rogue asked.

Evan frowned. "I… I did, once…"

"What do you mean, once?" Bobby asked.

Evan shook his head. "I… can't remember…"

__

"Will you take care of me, whatever happens?" a blonde girl asked, sitting next to him in the backseat of a large car. "Even if Daddy doesn't love me anymore because of what I can do, will you?"

Another shudder wracked his body, making him gasp with the pain of it. He gripped the sides of the bed, knuckles white, as tremors coursed through him relentlessly. Bobby jumped up. "I'm getting Jean."

Evan was vaguely aware of Rogue leaning over him. "Can you tell me how to help?" she asked.

"N-no – doctors – " he gasped. The restraints bit into his skin and drew fresh blood. Rogue noticed and pressed a wad of cotton gauze against the scrape, arresting the flow of blood. Evan asked, "why do you care for my wellbeing?"

"Because you're like me," Rogue said. "You're lost, and afraid, and you don't know whether to trust us or not. Believe me, I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I came here. But we're not bad people, Evan. You can trust us."

"Easy for you to say. You're not in restraints."

Rogue reached over and undid the leather straps around his wrists and ankles. "Is that better?"

He blinked and rubbed his left wrist, considering. "You trust me not to hurt you?"

"We can't ask you to trust us if we don't trust you," Rogue replied.

Evan looked at her. She sat next to the bed without a trace of fear. And not because she felt in control. Because she honestly believed he wouldn't try to hurt her. Not that she had to worry; he was so weak right now he doubted he'd be able to stand up and walk without support. But she couldn't have known that, and she trusted him not to hurt her.

Evan realised that she was right. She didn't seem like the sort of person to work for someone like Dr. Russell. And if she said Jean Grey was all right, he'd have to at least give the woman doctor a chance to prove herself.

Bobby and Jean came into the room a few minutes later. Evan glanced at Jean and forced himself to remain still, not shrink back the way he had before. None of the others seemed afraid of the red-haired woman, so he'd try to let her find out what was wrong with him.

Jean asked, "do you know what's wrong with you?"

"No. This used to happen back ho… back at the base, but the doctors always gave me some sort of injection and it would go away," Evan replied. "They never told me what it was."

Jean sighed. "I'm going to have to do a blood test. Will you let me do that?"

Evan glanced at Rogue, who smiled encouragingly. He swallowed and nodded. Jean picked up an alcohol swab and wiped the inside of his elbow. She picked up a needle and Evan turned his head away, not trusting himself to be able to watch. Rogue took his right hand in hers and squeezed. He felt a small sting as the needle entered his vein, then another as Jean pulled it out. She said, "I'm done."

Evan blinked and looked at his arm. This wasn't like all the other times he'd had tests done. They'd left his arms bruised and sore, looking the way his wrists did right now.

Rogue smiled. "See? That wasn't too bad, was it?"

"That's all she has to do?" Evan asked, hardly believing that it could be that simple.

Jean nodded. "I might be able to find out what's wrong with you from this. If I can't I may have to use other measures. But I promise everything I do has a reason. And none of it should cause you any more pain than that did."

Evan shook his head. "I don't understand why you care about me," he said. "Back at the base, the only reason the doctors treated us was if our injuries or illnesses would create risk to the others. Otherwise they let us heal on our own."

"Evan, what did they do at this base?" Jean asked.

Evan hesitated. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone…"

"Was it them that hurt you?" Jean persisted. "Because if it was, you don't need to be protecting them. They can't get to you here. We can stop them from doin this to anyone else."

Evan shuddered and wrapped his arms around his knees, ignoring the pain of cracked ribs.

"Who are they, Evan?"

"I… I don't know!" he cried. "The only one we see is Doctor Russell, and he's not even the one in charge. None of us know why we're there or who makes all the decisions, or even where the heck we are! I didn't know what it looked like outside until I came here. It was the first time I'd been outside the base in as long as I can remember."

Bobby asked, "how far back do you remember?"

"I was fifteen… I think. Doctor Russell was talking to me… that's the earliest I can remember," Evan replied, hugging his knees to his chest. "I had dreams… the doctors always gave me drugs to stop them…"

"Dreams?" Jean asked. "What sort of dreams?"

"There was a blonde girl, about my age… she could make metal move," Evan said slowly. "I felt like… like I'd known her practically my entire life. And a man…"

He trailed off. "I don't know what they mean. We're trained to pay no attention to dreams. The doctors say that they're something all mutants get, something that we just have to ignore or go crazy. But they don't feel like dreams… they felt **_real_**. Like something I used to know…"

He lowered his head, blonde hair falling across his eyes. "Just leave me. I don't want to talk about it."

"Evan—"

"Just go. Please."

Jean, Bobby and Rogue exchanged worried glances, but they did as he asked. Almost as soon as the door had closed again, Evan gave way to the tears that had been threatening to spill over since he had woken.

It was the first time he had cried for ten years.

^^^

Several days later, Storm was walking through the garden when she spotted Evan sitting on the crest of a hill, staring at the sunset. She walked up and asked, "mind a little company?"

He shrugged. "I'm not going to stop you."

She sat down beside him. His green-grey eyes stayed fixed on the piled-up clouds tinted red, apricot and pink by the setting sun. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," Storm replied.

"The first time I saw a sunset was two days ago. I thought there was something wrong, that the sun was exploding or something," Evan said. "We were told what the sun was, that it lit the world and gave us life, but nobody had ever thought to tell us that it rose at dawn and set with the night. There were so many things they never bothered to teach us about. I'm no better than a child in your world, Ororo."

Storm switched from what was obviously a painful subject to him. "You never did tell me your real name."

"Why bother? That person is long dead by now. This is who I am. Evan. The freak with no past," he said bitterly. "I may have been somebody else once, but that ended the day my father betrayed me."

"What?" Storm asked, barely able to believe her ears.

"You heard right. I don't remember much, but I do know this: my father betrayed me and my sister to whoever it was that did this to me. They would have done the same to my sister but she got away. The last time I saw her was when our father gave us over to **_this_**."

He thrust out one arm and Storm saw the tattooed number, bisected by the white scar running from wrist to elbow. She said softly, "you're not too different from a friend of mine."

"Logan. Yes, I know. Humans grafted adamantium onto his entire skeleton and wiped his memory. We were given all the files of the Weapon X projects, downloaded into our brains. We can't access them at will, though. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. I don't want anyone else to have to go through what I did, Ororo. Or what Logan went through. If I had access to the files in my brain, the people who did this would be dead."

Storm shivered at the hate in his words. He glanced at her and cracked a brief smile. "I'm sorry if my words frighten you. But you can't know what it feels like to know that everything you've been told is a lie. I'm not the person I thought I was, and I can never be that person again."

"Are you so sure you want to?" Storm asked. "Do you really want to be a killer, working for the sort of people that would do this to mutants? You may not know who you used to be, but you can make a new identity. You can be someone who fights for good."

Evan laughed. "An X-Man, you mean? I don't think so, Ororo. Scott would never accept me as one of the team, and I'm not so sure I'd be able to work alongside him without starting something we'd all regret. There's no way I could work with Jean. She's a good woman, I can see that now, but she's still a doctor and I can't deal with that. It's unfounded, but doctors will always be people I can't get close to or work with."

He dropped his head into his hands. "And the Professor. I mean, I know that he only wants to help people, and his dream of a peaceful future between human and mutant is a nice one. But I don't like people inside my head, whether they're on my side or not. As long as the Professor is a telepath there's the risk that he'll have to go inside my mind. And I'm afraid of what might be in there."

Storm was surprised at the unnaturally long speech. Usually Evan barely said two words. He could be worse than Logan when he wanted to be. But now that he was up and about he'd been a lot less mistrusting and he'd even begun to tell Scott and herself about the 'base' that he came from.

Evan glanced at his watch and reached into a small leather pouch hanging from his belt. He took out a handful of iron supplements and chewed on it. When he saw Storm's curious expression, he swallowed and explained, "Jean figured out that my mutation means I need large high levels of iron and organic metal deposits in my blood to form organic metal weapons. Whenever I use my power, I use up some of the deposits, so I need to replenish them by eating iron supplements. I try not to do it when people are around, but sometimes I forget."

"Don't worry about it. We all understand that our powers mean we have to do different things sometimes," Storm said.

Evan smiled and stretched his arms, arching his spine until it cracked audibly. Storm gasped, "how on Earth can anyone be that flexible?"

"I don't know," Evan admitted. "My bones must be like elastic or something. Or else I was a gymnast or a dancer before."

The sun sank below the horizon and Evan stood up. Now that he was out of bed, Storm was a little shocked to discover that he barely came up to her chin. He noticed her surprise but ignored it, saying, "I'd better get inside. Jean wants to do some more tests to find out whether my memory loss is permanent or caused by the doctors."

"Are you okay with that? Do you want me to come with you?" Storm asked. Evan chuckled softly.

"No, I'll be all right. I don't need a babysitter, Ororo. I've been looking after myself since I was fifteen."

He headed back to the mansion, head down in thought. Jean met him near the stairs and said, "I'm glad you decided to go ahead with these tests, Evan. Although it really would be much easier if you allowed Professor Xavier access to your mind—"

"No telepath is going anywhere near my thoughts," Evan hissed. "I'll let you do these tests if you want to, but I won't have anyone rummaging around in my head."

He followed Jean to the infirmary where a series of machines had been set up. The red-haired doctor said, "take a seat, please. I'll hook you up to the brainwave monitor and the memory inducer and we can get started."

Evan sat in the chair that reminded him of a dentist chair and waited apprehensively as Jean attached electrodes to his forehead and chest. He asked uncomfortably, "is all this really necessary?"

"If you ever want to remember more than you do in those dreams it is," Jean replied. "Just try to relax, Evan. We won't try it for long today, since it's your first session. Lie back and close your eyes."

Evan did as he asked, nervously rubbing his knuckles. Jean reached over and separated Evan's hands gently, laying each one on the armrests of the chair.

"Relax, Evan. This won't hurt you."

She flipped a switch and a line appeared on one of the monitors, much like a heart monitor. It was mainly straight, with a few jagged lines up and down.

"The memory inducer will bring your memories to the surface, hopefully memories that have been buried. I need you to think about family. Possibly that blonde girl you mentioned earlier."

The line on the monitor grew gradually more active, the spikes growing from half a centimeter in height to almost four. Jean asked, "can you tell me what you're seeing?"

"A school… kids in a classroom… she was sitting next to a dark-haired guy, flirting… my sister. Kimberley. And he was Billy, her boyfriend…"

"Good. Now think about your power. Making things appear from nowhere."

Beads of sweat appeared on Evan's forehead. "I was sitting at my desk at home… Kimberley had been acting weird lately, I was worried about her… some guy at school had been giving her crap again… I wished I could just kill him…"

Two organic metal daggers suddenly appeared in Evan's hands. He gripped them so tightly his knuckles turned white and continued to speak.

"Daggers formed… I was so scared. I thought there was something wrong with me. And then Kimberley came in… she was so happy that she wasn't the only mutant… she showed me what she could do, manipulate metals…"

The spikes grew even larger until they were almost off the screen. Jean shot a quick glance at Evan, who was breathing heavily. His skin was white and his face shone with sweat. Jean said, "that's enough for today, Evan. We'll try again tomorrow, when you're feeling a little stronger."

She unhooked the machines and turned off the monitor after recording the session's events. Evan grabbed a handful of iron supplements and ate it, shivering slightly.

"Am I ever going to remember more than those fragments?" he asked, shoving his long hair off his forehead.

"I honestly don't know, Evan. It looks promising, but we can't go too fast otherwise all our work will be for nothing," Jean cautioned. Evan nodded.

"I understand. Same time tomorrow night, Jean?"

"I look forward to it."

Evan pulled on his jacket and headed to the room Professor Xavier had given him. Jean had wanted him to stay in the infirmary for a while, but he'd flat-out refused.

He sank down on the bed and closed his eyes. His head was throbbing from the short session with Hank and he wasn't looking forward to the following sessions. But he'd go through a thousand times worse to remember who he was.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Evan? You in there?"

"Now who else would be in my room, Marie?" Evan asked, recognising the Southern girl by her accent. He sat up as she opened the door. "Is something wrong?"

"Storm sent me up to bring you down to dinner. She says it's about time you ate with the rest of us," Rogue said, smiling.

Evan stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. "Are we expected to eat together every night?" he asked. "I don't know if I'm comfortable with that."

"If it's too much of a problem the Professor will probably let you duck out of some of the nights," Rogue replied. "But the others don't usually get the chance to eat together except at night, so they like to take the time to talk about stuff that isn't to do with the X-Men. And us students have to eat in the dining room."

Evan followed her down to the dining room where all the other X-Men were sitting around a large rectangular table, chatting. He took a seat near the end with a cup of coffee and half-listened to the conversations around him.

"Evan?"

He looked up when Bobby's voice penetrated his thoughts. "Yes, Bobby?"

"Me and Jubilee were wondering whether you wanted to come into town with us tomorrow. Jubes wants to do some shopping and we figured you could do with some new clothes that don't make you look like an army guy."

"Is there something wrong with looking like an army guy?" Evan asked, only half kidding.

Jubilee grinned. "No, it's just that you could be so much cuter if you looked a little less intimidating. And there's lots of girls in town, plenty who'd be interested in a cute blonde guy."

"A mutant." Evan said it emotionlessly. "A freak."

"Not everyone thinks like that," Bobby protested. Evan shrugged and stood up.

"Ask me again tomorrow."

^^^

__

*****The doctors led him through corridors lit dimly with failing bulbs. Doors set with barred windows were at regular intervals along the walls. As they passed one of the doors, he saw a girl, no older than sixteen or seventeen, not much older than him, sitting against the wall, her hair tangled down her back, muttering under her breath. He caught his breath, shocked and horrified. She looked up and their eyes locked. She screamed, "coming to get us all, they're going to make you one of them, make you kill for them and never do anything you want to do, make you theirs, all theirs until you die or become empty, lost, nothing left inside, they'll take you and make you into a machine, make you a killer…"

The doctors urged him away from the door. "Don't pay any attention to her," one said calmly. "She's psychotic. Always seeking attention by coming up with these ridiculous scenarios."

He nodded. "Yes. Ridiculous."

He believed her.

Two of the doctors held his arms in iron hands, another three walked at his back, blocking any angle of escape. He followed them like a lamb to slaughter, trying not to see the inhabitants of the rubber rooms.

A boy his own age, wrists bandaged, dark circles under his eyes. A drip in one hand, a glazed expression in his eyes. Drugged off his face.

A girl with short blonde hair in clumps, blood matting what hair remained, clotting under her fingernails. As he watched, she reached up and tore another fistful of her own hair out of her scalp, hissing, "never be theirs, never be theirs, never be theirs…"

And then two doctors passed, dragging a screaming girl. She looked more normal than all the others he'd seen. Her long black hair was shiny and clean, her eyes lucid. She looked at him and screamed, "get away from them, get away while you still can! If they get you in there you'll be no better than the rest of these poor insane kids!"

The doctors dragged her ahead of him, ignoring her screams and struggles. He bit his lip and looked away, still held in the firm grasp of human doctors. His powers were no good here. He'd made metal weapons, but they'd just removed the weapons and continued to walk.

He felt as though he was on the way to the electric chair or a firing squad. Marching down that long corridor, men at his side and back to prevent any attempt at escape. And now, seeing that screaming girl, he was doubly sure that this place was evil.

The doctors kept walking until they reached a door with one of those electronic locks. One of them swiped a card through the detector and the door hissed open. Inside it looked like something out of a bad science-fiction movie. Two tanks with sensory input-output plugs, a bank of computers against one wall.

The dark-haired girl was there, strapped into one of the tanks. Two doctors were fussing with the equipment around her. She locked eyes with him but said nothing. And then one of the doctors placed what looked like a virtual-reality helmet over her head and flipped a switch.

She began to scream. He jerked, startled, as one of the doctors behind him urged him forward. Toward the other tank.

He resisted as long as he could. But one of them got a gun from somewhere and jammed it into the small of his back. They forced him over to the tank. The doctors strapped thick leather around his wrists, ankles, chest and throat, rendering him immobile and helpless.

Then they placed the virtual-reality helmet over his eyes.

Images of horrible carnage, of unspeakable cruelty flashed in front of his eyes. Humans killing each other in wars, on the streets, in ways only the most twisted mind could have thought of. Men raping children, shooting fathers in front of their families. Desecrating sacred grounds, burning churches.

Puritans burning girls at the stake in medieval times, accused of being witches. Ancient Romans crucifying people. Japanese Samurai disemboweling peasants.

He could smell the blood, hear the screaming of dying people. It went on for months, images flashing in front of his eyes, all of unimaginable cruelty and terror.

And in the end he started to get used to them. He rebelled against it to begin with, but as the weeks and months passed he came to believe that what he was seeing was what he had always seen, all his life. He came to believe that it was what should be.

Along with the images were subliminal messages. They told him who the master was, what he was meant to do. And he agreed with them. This was all he had known; how could it be wrong? Slowly, the persona of a killing machine replaced his own personality.

After eighteen months, he felt the straps confining him removed. He took off the helmet and stepped out of the sensory deprivation tank, shaking his hair out of his eyes. He looked at the doctors calmly, his face expressionless. Beside him was a dark-haired girl who was as calm and cold as he was.

The tallest doctor stepped forward. "Welcome back, children. How do you feel?"

He looked down at his body. Muscles had been enhanced with drug treatments. His frame was still that of a fighter, slender and graceful, but with that grace was an unimaginable power.

His gaze was all the answer the doctor needed. She smiled and said, "I am Doctor Russell and I'm going to be in charge of your training. Tell me your names."

He blinked and realised that he did know his name, though he had never said it before. The girl seemed to know her name, too. She said, "I am Sarah. My designation is Alpha-prime 29403."

"I am Evan. My designation is Alpha-prime 24601."

The name seemed foreign on his lips. He shook off the feeling and waited further instructions from Dr. Russell. The woman said, "good. On your arms you will find your designations so the rest of my people can recognise who is who."

He looked down at his arm. Tattooed into the skin was the designation 'A-24601'. Dr. Russell said, "you are both Alpha-primes. The rarest and most advanced mutants. I look forward to training you, children."

"Is that so, Doctor?" he asked emotionlessly. The doctor raised her eyebrows and gestured to the guards behind her. Two of them slammed him against the wall, rifle butts pressing against his throat, cutting off all oxygen.*****

Jean looked on in alarm as Evan began to gasp for breath, his skin totally white. She ripped the electrodes off his forehead, disconnected the memory inducer, as he lay there, his chest heaving, gripping the armrests so hard that his knuckles were white and spikes of metal formed around his fingertips. She checked his pulse and winced. It was racing, as though he'd just run a marathon.

__

*****Dr. Russell gestured the guards off. "Enough. He's learnt who's in charge."

The guards moved away from him, holstering their rifles. He held one hand to his throat, breathing harshly in deep, rasping breaths that hurt his bruised throat, and looked at the doctor. Dr. Russell said, "I don't want to see any more insolence like that, Alpha-prime 24601. I'm the master now. You will obey me."

"As you wish, Doctor."*****

Jean shot a glance back at the monitor. Just before Evan had began to go into this fit, the spikes had been huge and erratic. She'd tried to pull him out of the memory but he hadn't heard her voice.

He was still staring at the ceiling, pulling in heaving gulps of air, like a man who'd almost been drowned. Jean hesitated, then reached out to his mind with hers.

__

*****He backed up, looking from face to face. Dr. Russell had set a dozen guards against him, determined to find the limit of his strength. Each was armed with a different weapon; a sword, a pair of ivory-handled daggers, a Glock Taser, even a baseball bat. He was armed only with his strength and organic metal daggers. And it had been three days since his last injection, so he could only make one large knife or two small ones, and only for a small amount of time, before the convulsions would begin.

The guards advanced three at a time. The first three were armed with a sword, a Glock Taser and a pair of brass knuckles. Evan ducked a swing from the one with brass knuckles and aimed a high uppercut at the one with the sword. He was the most dangerous; his weapon had the most reach. Or so Evan assumed.

He was wrong. The man with the Taser aimed and fired. A low-voltage bolt of electricity hit Evan and sent him sprawling to the ground. Shaking off the pain, Evan flipped to his feet and snap-kicked the weapon from the man's hand, hitting the hand as well and snapping the wrist bones with a painfully loud **crunch**. The man howled and backed off, instantly replaced by another.*****

Jean pulled back, horrified. Then she steeled herself and forced her way into his mind, ignoring the images that hurled in a maelstrom of madness. She sent a sharp shock into his subconscious, hoping it would be enough to get him back.

She withdrew and waited, holding her breath. Finally, Evan stopped gasping for air and fell back against the chair, eyes closed. Jean felt for his pulse and sighed with relief. It was almost normal again. Slightly faster than normal, but that was better than the racing pulse he'd had minutes before.

She shuddered as she remembered the images she'd seen. _((Maybe that's why he's the way he is. And why he can't remember his past…))_

^^^

Evan slept until dusk of the next day. When he finally woke up, Storm was sitting nearby, reading a book. He cleared his throat and asked, "do people always watch me sleep?"

She smiled. "Good to see you're feeling yourself. We were worried."

"Why?"

"Don't you remember?"

Evan's green-grey eyes darkened. "Yeah, I remember. God… is everything I remember going to be that bad?"

"I hope not," Storm said. "I don't see why it should. After all, that was probably how the people you worked for made people into killing machines. Erase a man's past and you can shape him however you want. That's probably what they did to you."

Evan raked his fingers through his hair. "Freaky. And that girl… Sarah… we always fought, at the base, but when I first came in she was trying to warn me. She seemed like a decent person. And we turned into mortal enemies."

He shuddered. "Those kids in the isolation rooms… they were the failed 'experiments'. I remember Dr. Russell talking about them. The shock therapy didn't work on them like it did on us. Sent them insane instead of making them killing machines. Some of them still had lucid periods, like the girl who tried to tell me about the doctors, but they hadn't spoken to real people in so long that they forgot how. So nobody understood when they tried to tell us."

Storm changed the subject. "It's almost lunch time if you want to come down and get something to eat."

"No thanks. I'm not hungry," Evan said, wrapping his arms around his knees in what Storm had identified as his defence reflex. Whenever he felt threatened by something he couldn't fight, he shrank in on himself, hugging knees to his chest, sinking into some private world.

"At least come down and talk to Rogue and Bobby. They're worried about you," Storm said, knowing that his conscience would make him need to reassure the younger mutants. In the fortnight he'd been at the mansion, he'd already changed from the scared, defensive soldier to what must have been a semblance of the young man he was before.

He got out of the bed and went over to the chest of drawers where the few items of clothing he owned were kept. He pulled out black jeans and a leather jacket, his usual attire, and headed over to the bathroom.

"Mind if I shower first?" he asked sarcastically. A minute later, the sound of water drowned out any other noises. Storm sighed and headed downstairs. She figured Evan would talk about what they'd both seen when he was ready.

Twenty minutes later Evan stepped out of the bathroom, grey-green eyes red from crying. He sank down on the edge of the bed, head in his hands. Images kept flashing through his mind. Images of the blonde girl, Kimberley. The girl who was his sister.

Evan lowered his hands, staring at the tattoo on his arm. A-24601. Branding him as something he wasn't. But nothing short of laser surgery would remove it, and there was no way he could get enough money to have that done. The X-Men would probably do it for him but he didn't want to be indebted to them more than he already was.

He picked up the organic metal blade on the bedside table and turned it over in his hands. Not the best weapon, but good enough for the job he was going to use it for.

Veins aren't too deep, after all.

There was a tentative knock on the door. "Evan?" a soft voice asked. Rogue.

Evan didn't answer. Rogue called, "Evan, if you don't open the door I'm going to bust in. Jean says to leave you alone but I think you've been left along too much lately. It can't be good for you."

"I don't want to talk to you."

She was unfazed. "Sure you do. Who wouldn't want to talk to me? Come on, Evan, let me in. I brought food."

He ignored her. She sighed and said, "Evan, I'm going to sit out here and talk at you until you let me in. You need to talk to someone."

"Why do you care?"

Rogue's voice was soft when she finally answered. "Because you're my friend, Evan. I care about you. And I don't want to see you do something dumb, like slashing your wrists or something."

There was silence. Rogue broke it, saying, "God, that's why you won't let me in, isn't it? You were going to off yourself when Storm was gone! Evan, don't do this. You don't have to kill yourself to make things better."

"What would you know?" Evan asked, pressing the sharp end of the blade against his skin. A white pressure line appeared, then dots of red blood as he pressed deeper. So easy. Just draw the blade… further…

"I… I tried to do the same thing," Rogue said softly. "Not too long ago. Please, Evan, let me in. Or I'm going to go get Scott to blast down the door."

Evan closed his eyes for a few seconds. "You're not going to go away, are you?"

"No. Please, Evan, open the door."

He stood up and unlocked the door. Rogue burst in, her eyes widening when she saw the metal blade, stained with blood. She grabbed it and threw it behind her, pressing her hand against the cut he'd made.

She kicked the door closed and quickly checked the cut he'd made, sighing with relief when she saw that it wasn't deep enough to hit a vein.

"Evan, you bloody moron, why the hell would you want to do something like this? Never mind, sit down and we'll talk. And I don't want you keeping everything inside like you always do."

She sat beside him on the bed. "Evan, why would you want to kill yourself? No matter how bad things are, there's still the chance they'll get better while you're alive. If you're dead there's no way you'll be anything but dead."

"Like you'd know."

"I would, actually. After Magneto tried to use me to transform New York, there were so many people in my head I almost forgot who I was," Rogue said, twisting the fingertips of her gloves. "The first boy I kissed ended up in a coma, and I ended up with him in my head. A part of him, anyway. When Magneto transferred his powers to me, I got him. And when Logan saved me by giving me his powers, I got him. You can imagine the ruckus in there with Magneto and Logan stuck in my mind together. It got too much for me one night. I went down to the infirmary and took a bunch of sedatives. I'm just lucky Jean found me in time. She and the Professor helped me realise that it isn't worth throwing everything away, no matter how hard things get."

She looked up at Evan, her brown eyes serious. "We can help you, Evan. But only if you let us."

^^^

Eight weeks passed uneventfully. Jean and Evan continued their sessions trying to recover more of Evan's memories, and they were partially successful. After most of the sessions, Evan would sink into a deep depression that only Rogue or Scott could bring him out of. Several times he would lose consciousness for a day or two after a particularly strenuous session, but both he and Jean agreed that it was a calculated risk. No serious harm came of it, and if anything it forced him to sleep normally, something he'd never really done.

One afternoon, Rogue and her classmates headed for the gym where Scott had said there'd be a self-defence class starting up. Most of the guys hadn't wanted to go, and Rogue had heard some of them saying that it was probably a rape prevention deal, but Scott had told them that they were all expected to be there for the first class at least, whether they liked it or not.

Rogue pushed open the gym door and walked in, flanked by Jubilee and Kitty. The three girls had become virtually inseparable over the past months since Magneto's failed attempt to transform New York City's people into mutants.

Rogue stopped short, her mouth hanging open. Evan was sitting on the wooden floor, stretching his muscles. She ran over and asked, "what are you doing?"

"Warming up," he replied, stretching his left leg behind his head until his foot touched his right shoulder. Rogue winced. He grinned and said, "don't look so surprised, Marie. I need something to do around here, and who better to teach self-defence than a man who knows every way of attacking someone? Besides, I think it'll be fun."

He stood up and surveyed the students milling around the gym. Then he yelled, and his voice was louder than anything Rogue had ever heard, including Kitty when Bobby had put blue hair dye in her shampoo bottle.

"All right, you're not here to gossip! This is a serious class, kids, and it's not just to stop girls from being raped, though that is one of the benefits. You guys may think you're too tough to need self-defence, but you'll think differently when there's a goon with a knife at your throat."

The students stared at him, half of them not believing what they'd just heard. They were used to Scott, Storm and Jean, who were all nice, sensible adults, not a yelling psycho-guy.

Evan grinned. "Now that I've got your attention, listen up. I don't like to yell at people, so I'd appreciate it if you'd do as I say when I say. This class is just like Math, or History, or whatever, except it can be fun if we make it fun. But what I'm going to teach you can cause injury if you don't listen properly. Understand?"

The students nodded, most of the guys grinning by now. Evan gestured for them to sit down and paced in front of them as he spoke.

"All right. I know you think your mutant powers give you the upper hand when it comes to people attacking you, but that's not always the case. Believe me, I speak from experience. So I'm going to teach you some simple moves to get rid of anyone who's pulling moves on you. Plus some martial arts, cause they're always useful."

He gestured to John. "Stand up."

John stood up, glancing uncertainly at Evan. Evan grinned and said, "attack me."

"Sir?"

"You heard me. Attack me. Pretend you're a thug in Central Park and I'm an innocent little rich girl."

The students sniggered at Evan's words. He grinned and raised his eyebrows at John, who shrugged and circled behind Evan.

"Whenever you're ready," Evan called. He stood there in an extremely weird imitation of a 'girl pose' until John came up behind him and snaked one arm around his throat. Evan grinned and said, "this is the typical male attack on a girl. In which case you should do this."

He grabbed John's wrist and bent forward, using his momentum to flip the boy over his shoulder and into the grass. He looked down at him and said, "good job. You can go sit down now."

Blushing furiously, John sat down beside Bobby. Evan snapped his fingers at another guy. "Stand up please. I'm going to demonstrate what guys should do when they're attacked."

He grabbed the guy's left arm and wrenched it high up on his shoulderblade, being careful not to hurt him, and formed a metal rod. "This rod is a knife, okay?" he said, holding it to the guy's throat. "Now, this is a typical male attack on another male. Can you do that to me?" he asked, handing the rod to the guy.

Once their roles were reversed, Evan said, "this is what you do when you're in this position."

He drew his left leg back and stomped on the guy's instep in slow motion. "I'm doing this slowly so I don't get thrown out of here for beating up the students. And so you can see what I'm doing. If the instep doesn't work, there's always the nose, solar plexus and the universal guy's weak spot."

He demonstrated each weak point; using the back of his head to 'break' the guy's nose, jamming his elbow into the solar plexus and raising a knee to the 'universal guy's weak spot'. None of the hits met their mark, much to the relief of the student he was demonstrating with.

"All right, get into pairs and attack each other. See if you can escape your attacker. And I want girls attacking guys, too. It happens, and hitting a girl in the groin doesn't have the same effect as hitting a guy."

He paced along the line of 'attacking' students, giving a few pointers but mainly letting them try out the positions he'd shown them. 

"Good, Jubilation. But I don't think you need to be quite so… energetic about it. This **_is_** just practice… Position your hand a little higher on Bobby's wrist, Marie, you'll get better leverage that way… come **_on_**, guys, the girls can flip **_you_**! You're giving guys a bad name!"

After the class, Rogue walked up to Evan, who was once again stretching his limbs. He looked up and smiled. "So. Was the class okay?"

"Yeah, it was fine. I think you scared some of the guys, though. They'll think you're worse than Logan."

Evan shrugged. "It's for their own good. Did you want to talk to me about something?"

"Um, yeah," Rogue said, looking down. "See, there's this thing on in the city tomorrow, kind of like an old-fashioned ball thing, and, well, the guys would think it was totally geeky, but me and some of the girls wanted to go, and we were wondering if you'd chaperon us. Cause, you're more fun than the other teachers, but you're a teacher so that counts as a chaperone."

Evan nodded. "Sounds okay. Just let me clear it with the Professor, okay? And who exactly am I going to look after?"

"Just me, Kitty and Jubilee," Rogue said. "The other girls think it's kind of weird."

"I can handle three girls. Sure, I'll see what the Professor says. Now you better get to your next class," Evan told Rogue.

She quickly hugged him. "Thanks Evan," she said, dashing off before he could answer. He stared after her, frowning.

__

((**That** was weird. Marie isn't usually so demonstrative.))

He didn't have a chance to think about Rogue's weird behaviour; Jean came into the gym and asked, "you ready for another session?"

Evan nodded and picked up the jacket he'd dropped against the wall. "Of course. I want to see if I can't call up some of the stuff on the Weapon X projects. Hell, it might help Logan if he ever gets his ass back here."

Jean chuckled and they walked to the lab, mostly in silence. Evan sat down and let Jean connect the electrodes from the memory inducer and brainwave monitor. She flipped the switch and said, "all right, see if you can remember anything about Weapon X."

Evan closed his eyes and concentrated on what he'd been taught about Weapon X. About the way they'd found mutants with healing abilities and done unthinkable experiments on them.

Now that he thought about it, Weapon X sounded a lot like the stuff that had been done to him and the other mutants at the base.

__

*****Video files were downloaded into their brains, containing horrendous images of horrible torture. Experimentation that went horribly wrong, leaving the subjects with awful scarring, amnesia, paralysis and, most of the time, killed them.

For weeks, every time he closed his eyes he saw the files. Especially the ones done on the mutants they called Wolverine and Wildcat. A man and a girl. Both in their prime, with healing abilities, both with great potential.

Both fighters. They fought against what the humans tried to do to them, but in the end they succumbed.

All was recorded, to be used in later research. Lines were drawn where the metal was to be inserted. Their skin was cut open while they were still aware, still capable of feeling every fraction of the pain but helpless to do anything, even scream. Their skin was sliced away from the bone and metal was fused onto their skeletons.

And there was so much blood. By the time they'd done Wildcat's left leg the surgeons were drenched with it. And the sick thing was, they turned away from their experimentation to let her heal the awful damage done to her, and sipped red wine from crystal goblets. They talked to other men in expensive suits, discussing the produce of biological weapons like Wolverine and Wildcat.

They even cut the skin away from the mutants' faces to insert metal over their skulls. It reminded him of a sick horror movie, but he knew it was all too real. It had happened not so long ago. Several years, but even that was a fraction of a second compared to the rest of time. Whoever had done this was still alive and would do it again.

They called it the 'Weapon X Projects'. They tried to do it to a cat-like mutant called Sabretooth but it failed; he killed the guards who were sent to retrieve him and by the time it was found out he had allied himself with the Master of Magnetism, a man not even these humans wanted to tangle with. So they carried out their experiments on the mutants they had managed to obtain.

Wolverine escaped finally, but not until they'd totally gone over his skeleton with adamantium and wiped his memory. They experimented on Wildcat a little more, until one night someone broke into her holding cell and helped her escape.

There was one woman who was always there… familiar…*****

Jean glanced at the spikes. They were getting dangerously large, but Evan didn't seem too bad. He was clenching the armrests tight enough to turn his knuckles white and sweat formed a sheen on his forehead, but his breathing and heart were normal. She decided to let him go a little further.

__

*****The main doctor was a tall woman with thick black hair and cold grey eyes behind steel-rimmed glasses. She bent over Wildcat one evening and said, "this is all for your own good, child."*****

Evan's eyes opened and he sat up with a gasp. Jean rushed over and checked his pulse and breathing. Once she'd determined that he wasn't in any immediate harm, she pushed him back into a reclining position and asked, "what did you see?"

"The head doctor in the Weapon X Projects… it was Dr. Russell."

^^^

Evan stopped by the Professor's office after that evening's session and told him about Rogue's request. "I don't mind taking them if it's all right with you," he said. The Professor nodded.

"I think it will be good for the girls to have a night as normal girls. And it's perfect cover for Rogue; women often wore gloves at old-fashioned dances. Are you sure that you want to go, though?"

"They'll have fun, and it's not like I have anything better to do," Evan replied. "I'll stop by their room tonight and break the news. I'll probably get jumped on by squealing girls, but that's a hazard of this job."

He grinned and left, running a hand through his blonde hair. The idea of going to Rogue's dorm and breaking the good news to three teenaged girls was a daunting one, but he'd faced worse.

__

((Or maybe not. That's one thing Dr. Russell forgot to include in our training; survival among teenagers of the feminine persuasion.))

He knocked on the thick oak door. Kitty called, "just a minute!" and he heard scuffling sounds and Jubilee asking if someone was decent yet. Then the door was flung open by a breathless Kitty, dressed in baby blue pajamas, while Jubilee was sitting at the desk with a hairbrush and Rogue was hurriedly tying the sash of her robe.

"Yes, sir?" Kitty asked. Nobody knew Evan's last name and most of the time they called him Evan, but he guessed that she was a little embarrassed to be seen by a teacher in her pajamas.

"I just came by to tell you I can chaperon you three tomorrow night, if you still want to go," he said. And was immediately engulfed by a whirlwind of squealing, hair and that lilac perfume Kitty liked to wear.

He pulled away from the three girls, grinning. "I sort of figured that would happen. I guess that's my answer. What time do you think you'll be ready to leave?"

"About six," Kitty replied, "which means you should probably aim to leave at quarter past. We'll probably get in the car at six-thirty."

Evan chuckled. "Girls and their getting-ready time," he commented. "If I live to be a hundred I'll never understand your species."

He took a step back and started to close the door. "Good night, girls."

"'Night, Evan," they chorused. Shaking his head and smiling, Evan went up to the room he was staying in. The trouble was, now that he was thinking about the Weapon X projects, that was all he could think about if he tried to sleep. And he didn't exactly want to dream about that. Not if he wanted a full night sleep.

__

((There's got to be some memory stronger than those ones,)) he mused, kicking off his combat boots and lying back. He started thinking about the 'ball' the next night, and that got his mind on the subject of old-fashioned dresses. And images of Storm in old-fashioned dresses.

__

((Okay, this isn't any better. She's older than I am for Gods' sake! And she's an attractive woman; she can have any man she wants. Men who aren't military memory-deficient killing machines.))

He grabbed a stack of CDs from the bedside table and stuck one in the player. Pulling on his headphones, he turned up the volume as loud as it would go and started listening to Artful Dodger's 'Please Don't Turn Me On'.

_Baby won't you keep your distance, _

Getting too close to me

I've been feeling my resistance 

Melting away

But she said she wouldn't mind if you spent a little time

Said you were a friend of mine she could trust you out of sight

Now two bottles later on and I think I stayed too long

I forget where I belong 

Please don't turn me on, 

It's getting late I know I should be gone

Don't push me cause I'm not that strong

Never could tell right from wrong 

He still couldn't get the image of Storm out of his mind. 

_Put your hands where I can see baby you know what I mean_

Cause you're looking good to me and you know I feel the heat

Please don't turn me on

It's getting late I know I should be gone

Don't push me cause I'm not that strong

Could never make it right from wrong 

Evan growled and turned off the CD. He rolled onto his stomach and stared out the window, deep in thought.

__

((I'm falling in love with another teacher. This is **so** not a good idea.))

^^^

Evan slept late the next day, which was okay because he didn't have any classes to teach until after lunch. He stayed in the shower for half an hour, trying to shake off the nightmare that had come after he'd banished all thoughts of Storm from his mind.

Dressing in his usual dark clothing, Evan went down to the kitchen and brewed a cup of coffee. The idea of food before noon made him physically sick, so he just drank coffee at breakfast to satisfy Jean's need to make sure he was getting enough nutrients, despite all the evidence that pointed to his needing less than other people.

Evan sat down in the den and paged through a newspaper, not really paying much attention to what he was reading until he saw the name 'Dr. Jessica Russell'.

He started to read the article.

__

"We've all seen the movies; biological weapons that are obedient to their creators, fighting machines that turn the tide of wars. Science-fiction? No more. Scientists who have been researching the possibility of biological weapons have made a breakthrough in the field, led by Dr. Jessica Russell, head of the biological research department of the FBI.

"Research and experiments have been conducted over the past fifteen years and it seems they are coming to fruition. Dr. Russell and her colleagues report that it is a possibility that America will have biological fighting machines within the next few years, thus eliminating the need for our men and women to risk their lives in wars and peacekeeping attempts.

"Dr. Russell was unavailable for comment at the time of printing, but a colleague, Dr. Lucy Peters, told reporters that 'our experiments have come back with positive results, and we are confident that within five years, America's citizens will no longer have to risk themselves in battles against other countries and the mutant threat in our own country.'

"According to the scientists, we can look forward to a more secure future, protected by fighting machines obedient to their creators. And while some people suspect that the experiments done in this field were conducted on mutants or criminals, the majority of America's people agree that this is a good thing."

Evan's hands were shaking by the time he finished reading the article. A rough voice broke into his thoughts.

"You okay, kid? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Evan looked up and found himself staring at Wolverine, the man from the Weapon X projects. The man was holding a duffel bag on one shoulder, looking down at him quizzically. Evan gasped, "Wolverine?"

"Yeah, that's one of my names. What's it to you? And how did you know?"

"I… I've heard of you. I know about the Weapon X projects, more than you do probably. Dr Grey's been helping me call up the information."

Wolverine frowned. "Say what? Never mind; look, do you know where the Professor is? I should probably let him know I'm here."

Evan cracked a smile. "He probably knows already. You know what the Professor is like."

He stood up. "He should be in his office, but there's a physics class on right now. Maybe you should wait until that's done. You know how the students get with interruptions. Any excuse not to work."

He stuck out his hand. "I'm Evan."

Wolverine shook his hand slowly. "Logan. Where're you from?"

"I don't know. My memory was wiped a long time ago, like yours," Evan said. Logan raised his eyebrows.

"Is that how you know about Weapon X? Are you… like me?"

"Sort of. I'm not a Weapon X project, not exactly," Evan replied. "But the people who did this to me are the same people who did those things to you. At least, the one in charge is. Dr. Jessica Russell."

"If you don't remember anything how do you know her name?" Logan asked.

Evan replied, "because she's the woman who trained me to be a killing machine for almost ten years. The program I was a part of is different to Weapon X; we weren't really altered as you were. The way we were turned into fighting machines was mental. They brainwashed us and buried our memories. Even now I can only remember a few things."

"How do you know about Weapon X?" Logan asked. Evan ran his fingers through his blonde hair and sighed.

"They downloaded the video files into our brains five years ago, but we couldn't access them at will," Evan explained. "Dr. Grey is helping me try to remember more, but it's not going too well. The most I've remembered is the files, and the way they altered my mind."

"So what made you look so freaked when you were reading the newspaper?" Logan asked. Evan tossed the paper to him and sipped his coffee, still shuddering at the implications of the article. Logan finished reading and whistled.

"This could be a problem."

"Yeah. The biological weapons they're talking about, that's the other mutants back at the base, and any Weapon X mutants that didn't escape with Wildcat," Evan said.

Logan frowned. "Who's Wildcat?"

"Oh… she's another mutant with healing powers like yours. She was experimented on around the same time as you. You two are the main people I remember from the files."

"Who was she?" Logan asked. 

Evan shook his head. "I'm not sure. She was a lot like you, though. You both fought them until the end. More than a lot of people would have had the strength to do."

Evan stood up and began to walk back to the kitchen, Logan walking beside him. Evan said, "since I came here and the others convinced me that the people I worked for were evil, I've been trying to remember more about Weapon X and the doctors back at the base. I still don't have enough to be of any use."

He rinsed out the coffee cup and put it in the dishwasher with the other things from breakfast. Jean walked into the kitchen and said absentmindedly, "morning, Evan. Hi Logan."

She did a double take. "Logan? When did you get back?"

"About ten minutes ago. Is Chuck busy?" Logan asked. Jean shook her head, bemused at the sight of the tall Canadian and the short soldier standing together, talking as if they were old friends.

Evan grinned. "Pull your eyes in, Dr. Grey, they look like they're about to pop out of your head. By the way, can we do today's session a little earlier? I promised Kitty, Jubilation and Marie I'd take them to some dance in the city."

Jean nodded. "Of course. Are you free around four o'clock?"

"Sounds good. My classes are done by then, and it won't take me nearly as long to get ready as the girls," Evan said, chuckling. Jean smiled and walked out of the kitchen, a slightly dazed expression on her face. Logan laughed.

"Don't think she's used to seeing me being friendly to other people," he commented. "I was kind of rude when I was here before."

Evan shrugged. "I tried to kill Scott and Jean. You can't have been that bad."

"Oh, I don't know. You'd be surprised," Logan replied. "Speaking of One-eye, he's probably gonna be on the warpath when he finds out I'm back. I kind of stole his motorcycle when I left."

Evan shook his head. "I think he'll get over it. Anyway, I'd better get going. I teach self-defence classes and I still have to set up the mats for today."

He turned away, then paused and swung back. "You want to give me a hand for today's class? I need someone taller and heavier than me, and normally I'd just use a student since they all qualify for **_that_**, but I also need someone who can attack properly and that sort of discounts most of the students in my class. I **_could_** use Scott, but after what I did on the first night I doubt he'd come anywhere near me."

Logan shrugged. "Sure, why not? When's it start?"

"Two-thirty in the gym," Evan replied, walking out of the kitchen. Logan headed up to Professor Xavier's office.

^^^

Rogue and the rest of the class walked into the gym and stopped short. Logan was there, warming up with Evan. Both men were talking as they stretched. Rogue had never seen either Logan or Evan look so comfortable with another person before.

Logan glanced over and smiled. "Hey, Marie. It's been a long time, huh? How're you doing these days?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "How long are you staying, Logan?"

Logan shrugged. "A while. Longer than last time, anyway, even if it's just to piss off Red-eye."

Evan stood up and called, "come on, everyone sit down. For today's demonstration I want to show you what to do if you're attacked by someone bigger than you. Which is why I asked Logan to help out. Well, that and he can heal himself. So do your stretches like I showed you and we'll get down to business."

Logan raised his eyebrows. "Am I going to regret this?" he asked. 

Evan shrugged. "I'm not that strong. And you **_can_** heal yourself, plus you've got metal bones. That's a bit of an advantage."

He stretched his left arm behind his head until it cracked loudly, drawing winces from the rest of the class. Evan looked over at them and called, "don't do that, by the way. I can only do it because my bones are more flexible than most people. I don't want to see you dislocating your shoulders because you think you have no bones."

He turned back to Logan. "All right, I need you to attack me from behind when we start. Imagine you're a mugger, or one of those damned Friends of Humanity."

"I can do that," Logan said, flicking his claws out. 

Evan shook his head. "No powers, except your healing. I'm trying to teach these kids how to defend themselves without resorting to powers that they can't always rely on."

He clapped his hands and the students stopped stretching and sat down in front of him. He said, "watch what I do when Logan attacks me. And then I want you to get into your pairs and practice."

He turned his back to Logan. "Whenever you're ready, Logan."

Logan came up behind him and grabbed him in a chokehold. Evan went to his knees and ducked his head, using the strength of Logan's hold to slam him to the ground. He stood up and said, "if your opponent is bigger or stronger than you are, you can use their strength against them. Logan, attack me face-on this time."

Logan stood up and ran at Evan, a half-grin on his face. This was more fun than fighting with Scott, and more satisfying because he was actually teaching the kids something instead of being a jackass.

Evan waited until Logan was almost upon him, then sidestepped and grabbed the larger man's wrist. Bringing one leg up, he kicked Logan's jaw and twisted the arm that he was holding, sending Logan crashing to the ground again.

"All right, get into pairs and attack each other. **_Carefully_**. I don't want any injuries," Evan said. He turned to Logan and extended a hand, pulling the larger man to his feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah. That kick was a little hard, though," Logan replied, working his jaw and wincing. "You really know what you're doing, don't you?"

"I'm military-trained, Logan. Of course I know how to attack and defend."

Evan gazed at the students, a fond smile on his face. "They love this class, and not just because they get to attack each other. I think they enjoy learning how to defend themselves. And God knows they're going to need that knowledge."

He sighed and shoved blonde hair off his forehead. "Sometimes I wonder what the point is. Why do we try when so many people hate us? But looking at these kids, I know why. We fight for them."

^^^

Jean flipped the switch on the memory inducer and Evan tried to relax. But the memory that bubbled up from his subconscious was far from relaxing.

__

*****A part of his training had been to see if he could kill. Kill without mercy, without hesitation. To test this, they'd locked him in a white room for countless days, endless hours of sensory deprivation, then thrown a guy in with him.

The guy lasted five minutes, and that only because Evan was in a playful mood. If he'd been as crazy as the day before, the guy would have been dead the second he entered the room.

After the berserker rage, Evan passed out. He came to strapped to a table in Dr. Russell's lab, electrodes attached to his forehead. The doctor bent over him and shone a flashlight in his eyes. "Glad to see you're back with us, Alpha-prime 24601," she said. "We were afraid you weren't going to wake up at one point."

That had to be a lie. The only time Dr. Russell cared about what happened to the mutants was during a mission.

Evan tested the straps around his wrists and ankles while Dr. Russell was out of the room. They were fastened, but not very well. Obviously they thought this was like the times he didn't get his injections in time; they assumed he'd be weak and helpless.

They assumed wrong. And the berserker rage was still upon him.

When another, younger, doctor walked into the room, Evan snapped the restraints and attacked. He formed organic metal claws over his fingers and rammed them into the other man's throat. He knocked the doctor to the floor and ripped out his throat like an animal.

Afterwards, when the rage wore off, he would be repulsed by the blood on his hands. Right now, all he cared about was killing.

Dr. Russell came into the room and smiled. "So you can kill for no good reason," she said, her voice dead and cold. Then she smiled cruelly. "Good."*****

^^^

Evan knocked on Rogue's door at six-fifteen. "You girls ready yet?" he asked.

"Just a minute!" Jubilee called. 

"Storm decided she wanted to come along," Kitty warned from inside the room. 

Evan nodded. "Yes, I know. She'll meet us downstairs. Now are you coming out?"

There was a moment's hesitation, then Rogue spoke.

"Don't you dare laugh."

The door opened and the three girls walked out. Each one was dressed in a turn-of-the-century ballgown; Kitty's in pale blue, Jubilee's in yellow, Rogue's in dark green. They'd done their hair up like noblewomen in the 19th Century and all three were wearing gloves that matched their dresses.

Jubilee's gaze swept over Evan and she smiled appreciatively. "Nice tux, Evan."

He shrugged. "We're going to be late."

Storm was waiting downstairs, dressed in a crimson version of the dresses Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee wore. Her long white hair was done up in a French twist.

She smiled at the three girls. "You three look beautiful. Come on, I managed to get the keys to the Cadillac from Jean."

They climbed into the car and Storm drove toward New York. Evan had his license – all the mutants from the base did, just in case; Dr. Russell had had some guards teach them – but since it had been years since he'd used it he preferred to let someone else drive. And, of course, the girls weren't quite old enough to drive without supervision.

They arrived at the hall where the dance was being held and went inside. The room was already filling with girls and women in old-fashioned dresses, men in tuxedos and waiters and waitresses in full uniform. They found seats at one of the long tables and sat down.

Five minutes later, a boy asked Jubilee to dance. The same thing happened to Kitty and Rogue not long afterward. Storm glanced at Evan and asked, "shall we?"

"Why not? It's better than sitting here like wallflowers," he replied, standing up and extending a hand. She took it and they moved onto the dance floor.

As they danced, Storm said, "you know, you're right."

"About what?"

"You must have been a dancer. You move as though the music is in your veins."

A few minutes passed in silence before Evan spoke. "You look beautiful, Ororo. How is a woman like you still single?"

"I guess I've never found the right man," she replied.

Evan glanced past her and frowned. One of the bouncers, standing by the door, looked familiar…

__

*****…Evan glared at Jason, codenamed Dervish, forming organic metal gauntlets over his fists. The other man hefted a lead-weighted lance and swung it at Evan, using his augmented strength to power the missile. Evan dodged aside and swept Jason's feet from under him, sending him crashing to the ground…*****

Evan glanced around the room and felt his heart lurch. He recognised at least a dozen guards or mutants from the base, all surrounding any possible exits. The guy dancing with Jubilee seemed normal, but the one with Kitty was definitely a guard from the base, Evan could tell.

Storm asked, "what's wrong? You've gone all tense."

"We've got a problem. At least a dozen guards from the base are here," Evan said tersely, resisting the urge to create organic metal blades and hurl them at the guards. "The ones dancing with Kitty and Marie are from the base; I recognise them."

Storm glanced around and frowned. "How can you tell?"

"They're mostly guys I've seen, and the women have that sort of military bearing that I'm used to," Evan replied. "We're in trouble."

Three of the guards were approaching Evan and Storm, hands resting on gun-hilts that looked as though they were parts of costumes. Evan took a step away from Storm and flexed his fingers, debating whether it was worth the risk to make some sort of weapon. One of the guys shook his head and looked over at Rogue. Evan followed his gaze and growled. The man dancing with Rogue had a pistol jammed into her side and was carefully guiding her toward the door. The guy with Kitty was doing the same, and someone had just cut in on Jubilee and pulled a pistol.

Evan's gaze moved back to the men approaching him and Storm. Three of the women were walking toward the door, hard expressions on their faces. The three men nearing him each had a hand on their guns and Evan knew they wouldn't hesitate to kill Storm or the girls. They'd want him alive, but the others wouldn't be so important.

The tallest man reached them first. He spoke softly, not wanting to attract attention. "Come with us quietly and we won't have to kill anyone here," he said. "Make any trouble and I can't say what will happen."

Evan glanced at Storm. "Let the girls go. They're not involved in this."

Jason had reached them by then and he shook his head. "They became involved the minute they sheltered you, Evan. They come with us, as does this beautiful woman, to ensure your cooperation. If you want them to remain well I'd suggest you come, now."

The third guard moved behind Evan and jammed the muzzle of his gun into his side. "Move, Alpha-prime 24601," he growled. This one was definitely a human. Only the humans referred to the mutants by their designations.

The guards guided them to the door and over to a large olive-coloured van. Kitty, Rogue and Jubilee were already in the back, scared expressions on their faces.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you guys get out of this," Evan assured them. "They won't hurt you as long as I do what they want."

"What **_do_** they want?" Jubilee asked.

"They're working for the people who erased my memory," Evan admitted. "I get the feeling they're not too happy with me right now. People don't usually quit when they're working for Dr. Russell."

The van started up. Evan frowned. "That's strange. Usually they'd have someone in the back with us, making sure we didn't… I don't know, making sure we didn't do anything they didn't want us to. Or at least to make sure I don't try to kill myself before they can get to the base. We're usually trained to destroy ourselves before enemies can torture us for information."

"That's horrible," Kitty said. Evan shrugged.

"It's the way things were, Kitty. We never thought to question it."

^^^

Storm stretched her muscles and sighed. They'd been in the van for three hours and her muscles were starting to cramp up. Rogue and Jubilee were asleep, Kitty was playing with her gloves and Evan was gazing at the wall, a slight frown on his face.

Not that she blamed him for frowning. Hell, if the girls hadn't been there she'd have been ripping the place apart by now. As it was, she was having to restrain herself from calling up lightning and tearing the van apart, piece by piece.

The van jerked to a halt and Storm heard the doors slamming. She tensed, getting ready to attack whoever opened the back doors, and Evan gently woke up Rogue and Jubilee.

The man Evan had said was called Jason opened the door and stepped back. Four women took his place, each aiming a gun. 

"Get out," the redhead said. Evan, Storm, Kitty, Rogue and Jubilee climbed out of the van. Evan glared at the women, green-grey eyes flashing dangerously. But Storm noticed the way he rubbed the tattoo on his arm and kept back from the guards, almost as though he was afraid of them. And Evan wasn't afraid of much.

"Walk," the redhead snapped, prodding Storm with her gun. Storm grabbed Kitty and Jubilee's hands and squeezed them, sending a telepathic message to all three girls.

__

~ Don't worry. We'll get out of this. ~

~ How? ~ Kitty demanded.

__

~ I don't know. But we will. And you can be sure the others will come for us, ~ Storm replied. They began walking, the women with guns right behind them. Jason was in front of them, leading them through what seemed to be a concrete carpark to a large brick building.

A tall woman with thick black hair and cold grey eyes behind steel-rimmed glasses was waiting in front of the door. She smiled and said, "welcome back, Alpha 24903. I see your mission was successful."

Jason bowed his head. "Yes, Doctor. We were forced to bring these females also, to make Alpha-prime 24601 cooperate with us. Will they still be needed?"

The doctor considered, looking at Storm with interest in her cold eyes. Then she shook her head. "No. They were undoubtedly useful in ensuring Alpha-prime 24601's cooperation on your journey, but I don't think we'll be needing them. Knock them out and return them to where you found them."

She took a few steps to Evan's side and smiled, saying, "Ah, Alpha-prime 24601. How fortuitous that you have returned to us. We've spent a lot of time planning your retrieval."

"Go to hell," Evan growled. The doctor slapped him, a hard expression replacing the cold smile.  
"You will not speak to me that way, Alpha-prime 24601. Not if you want to have any memories of your few months of freedom. I know you better than you think. If you remember who helped you, and remember the fact that I know where you were, you will be more manageable. I can have them all killed at a moment's notice, Alpha-prime 24601. Don't ever forget that."

She snapped her fingers and the women knocked out Jubilee, Kitty, Rogue and Storm. Rogue stayed conscious just long enough to see Evan lunge at the doctor with murder in his green-grey eyes. One of the guards stepped forward and pressed the end of a baton-like stick against Evan's shoulder. Evan was thrown back with a loud crackle of electricity, and Rogue lost consciousness.

^^^

Evan woke up in a small white room, strapped to a medical bed by his wrists. His shoulder was burned and his head felt as though something had exploded inside it. There were a few machines by the side of his bed, monitoring his heartbeat and a dozen other things he knew nothing about.

Doctor Russell walked in, followed by Jason and Liam, another male mutant whose codename was Masque. Liam had the ability to change his shape, hence his codename.

Dr. Russell sat down beside the bed while Jason stood at attention beside the door and Liam walked over to a table on wheels near the window and started to lay out medical instruments and syringes.

"Good to see you awake again, Evan," Dr. Russell said. "It's good to see you awake again. We've spent a lot of time looking for you."

"Why?" Evan asked, his voice sounding as though he hadn't spoken in years. Dr. Russell gestured to Liam, who came over and held a cup of water to Evan's lips.

"This should help with your throat," the other mutant said tonelessly. "You're very powerful, one of the more powerful Alpha-primes, Evan. I was here when you were brought in."

"So you know what she did to us?"

"She made us better," Liam replied. "We were weak before coming here. She helped us to recognise our powers, helped us to utilise them fully. We are thousands of times stronger than the mutants you sheltered with. If we were to use our powers to their full extent, we could wipe out humanity and mutantkind without even thinking about it."

He placed the cup beside the bed and picked up a syringe. "Dr. Russell tells me it's been a while since your last injection. The iron supplements undoubtedly helped, but the injections are easier and less frequent. This won't take long."

He tapped the side of the syringe to dispel air bubbles in the mixture and stuck it in Evan's arm. Evan felt the familiar burning that came every time he had one of these injections. It felt as though liquid fire was racing along his veins.

An intercom beeped. Dr. Russell pressed a button. "Yes?"

__

"Ma'am, there's a problem in Quadrant D-5. Some of the Alpha-primes are…"

"Are what?" Dr. Russell snapped.

__

"Well, rioting, ma'am. Alpha-prime 32871, Alpha-prime 30451 and Alpha-prime 20473 have done a lot of damage to the base. They've killed several humans," the soldier said, sounding nervous. _"Ma'am, they're stronger than we thought. Almost as strong as the newest prototypes."_

Dr. Russell snarled, "the prototypes are not to be discussed, soldier. Now deal with the rebels. That's what I pay you for."

She terminated the connection and glanced at Jason and Liam. "I must go and investigate this. Remain here and watch Alpha-prime 24601. If any harm comes to him, I will hold you personally responsible."

"Yes, doctor," Jason said. Dr. Russell stalked out of the room and locked the door behind her.

Liam glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner of the room. Then his eyes flicked back to Jason and he said, "I think it's about time the good doctor realises exactly who is against her, don't you?"

"Of course," Jason replied. He moved over to Evan's side and began to undo the restraints. "Evan, if you could take out the camera we'd be very grateful. Dr. Russell is in for a surprise, but there's no need to spoil it by showing her what we're doing in this room."

Evan sat up and formed a blade out of the organic iron deposits that had been replenished after that injection. He aimed it at the camera and used his slight control over his own metal creations to steer it right into the lens, shattering it and making the room unmonitored.

Liam smiled, an expression that looked strange on his usually blank face. "It's good to have you back, Evan. I have to admit I'd been wondering how we might get news to you that the Alpha-primes were planning an insurrection. I apologise for the necessity of all this. I wish it could have been another way, but, well… you're here now, and us Alpha-s are right sick of the way Dr. Russell and her associates treat us. We figure it's about time they got a taste of their own medicine."

"And you expect me to believe this?" Evan asked.

Jason shrugged. "You're the first one of us to escape, Evan. But you're not the first mutant who thought there might be another way. We don't have a lot of support inside; there's only six of us all up. Seven if we include you. We'll have opposition, but we have outside help. Not the X-Men; we couldn't figure out how to get news to them without Dr. Russell's surveillance people finding out. But there's another group of mutants who are willing to help us. They call themselves the Zenith."

"Climax, culmination, pinnacle, summit, extremity, ascendancy," Liam offered.

Evan shot a glance his way. "When did you become a scholar?"

Liam grinned. "You'd be surprised, Evan. You know that we Alpha-primes are never what we seem. After all, who'd have thought that Dr. Russell's dumb shapeshifting sidekick would ever revolt against her?"

Evan winced. "You heard us calling you that?"

"Relax. I can't say I blame you. I **_did_** pretend to be pretty thick, after all. Besides, my cover let me get access to a lot of her private files. Most of which are now inside my head. The hard copies are probably being destroyed by Toby as we speak."

"Toby?"

"Alpha-prime 20135, if that helps," Jason remarked. "He's with us. Computer-oriented guy. He's younger than the rest of us, one of the newer bunch, but he's good."

Evan rubbed the back of his neck. "You're saying that the Alpha-primes are rebelling against the humans, people who we practically worshipped, the people who brainwashed us to make us obedient to them? People who did things to us that would put them in jail for life if we weren't 'genetrash.' And yet we believed that they were doing it all for our own good. And you expect me to believe that all of a sudden you all realised that what we do is wrong."

He laughed. "Give me a break, guys. It took two months of intense memory treatment for me to even begin to remember who I used to be! How can you tell me that you all just suddenly remembered?"

"We didn't," Liam said softly. "None of us know who we are, Evan, you're luckier than us in that respect. And it's not all of us, anyway. Me, Jason, Toby, Zoë, Theresa and Zhan, we're the only ones who realised that if you could get away from this, more of us can. We arranged for a revolt when Dr. Russell was occupied with something. That turned out to be your retrieval."

Jason glanced at the door. "Liam, if we're gonna help the others we'd better get a move on," he said worriedly. "It's been too long. They might need us."

Liam nodded and turned to Evan. "What do you say? You gonna help us? The way I see it, you might not trust us but we're your only chance out of here. Stick with us until we're out, and then do whatever you want. I'm not gonna make you stay with us if you don't want to. But we could really use your help."

Evan hesitated, then nodded. "All right. Something about this still feels off, but I'm in."

Liam shifted into Dr. Russell's form and walked over to the door. He pried open a panel and spoke into the intercom. "Computer, open this door," he snapped, sounding exactly like Dr. Russell when she was in a snit. The door slid open and the three mutants began to half-walk, half-run down the white corridors.

As they approached the rooms where the mutants slept, a fierce wind blew down the corridor, accompanied by purple haze that swirled around their feet. Wisps touched their faces, as though making sure they were the right people, then settled back at their feet, borne by the wind through the corridors.

Liam grinned. "Zhan is having fun," he commented. "She loves making her hazes different colours. Normally they're just white."

Jason had come up to a door with purple haze rushing out of the keyhole. He twisted the knob and growled. "Damn. It's locked. And this isn't one of the computer-controlled doors that you can fool, Liam. Russell knows better than to put a com-controlled door in the rooms where shapeshifters sleep, even if we are supposed to be on her side."

Evan formed a few small tools out of organic metal and inserted them in the lock. He twisted them for a few minutes, grinning when he heard the telltale _click_ as the tumblers slid through each other and the door unlocked.

Jason quickly became his whirlwind form and spun through the door, throwing a human aside the second he came into contact. Liam shifted into a body that looked suspiciously like Logan's, complete with metal claws and that mean grin as he ran headlong into the battle.

Evan dematerialised his lockpicking tools and formed a dozen small knives, sticking them through his belt. He took aim at a human and hurled the first, striking the man in his back. The mutant he'd been attacking, a tall, willowy woman with waist-length silver and white hair, grinned and pumped a fist.

Evan glanced around the large room as he moved forward, taking in his surroundings in seconds. Two mutants clustered around another, who was sitting with his hands touching a computer screen, eyelids fluttering as he concentrated. Three humans were trying to get to him, but the two mutants were holding them back.

A stocky woman with short black hair, black eyes and dark skin was fighting hand-to-hand with another human, purple haze erupting from her fingertips as she fought. The haze blinded her opponent and crept across the floor, grabbing human ankles and hampering the efforts of the humans to subdue the mutants.

A short, slender woman with close-cropped brown hair and tanned skin leapt around the room, her feet sticking to the walls, her fingers splayed out as she landed on humans and knocked them to the floor, where the purple haze covered their noses and mouths until they passed out from anoxia.

The two mutants protecting the younger Alpha-prime stood close together, forcing the three humans back as easily as though they'd been trained in a top-notch military facility. The woman had pitch-black skin, like a panther, and black hair speckled with silver, like stars. She mainly fought with her fists, though occasionally she thrust a hand over her opponent's eyes. The human would back up, blinking as though he'd come into a dark house after being in bright light.

The guy was tall, with short red hair and green eyes. Light erupted from his fingertips, like ball lightning. He moved like a snake, striking quickly.

The guy at the computer seemed oblivious to what was going on around him. His fingers were touching the screen and his eyes were closed, as though he'd sunk deep into a connection. Sweat was pouring down his face and he looked like he was running a marathon. He had long black hair, blue eyes and an olive complexion that had paled considerably in the last few minutes.

A tall, attractive woman was grappling with a stocky man wearing a white lab coat. Long, wavy dark brown hair whipped in the air as she spun around, kicking and punching.

Not too far away, a short blonde-haired woman leapt into the air and kicked one of her two opponents in the chest, sending him staggering back. She scissor-kicked the second man, landed lightly and stretched out her hand toward a man aiming a gun at the dark-haired woman. The gun flew out of his hand and landed in hers. She fired off a few shots, then tossed the empty gun aside.

Evan hurled more knives through the air, striking down several humans just as they were about to attack mutants. Finally, the only humans remaining were Dr. Russell and two guards that Evan recognised as the ones always around the Doctor.

Jason reformed his human body and took a few steps toward Dr. Russell. He said dangerously, "we should kill you, Russell. After everything you've done, you deserve to die."

The black-skinned woman with silver-specked hair moved forward and touched his shoulder. "Leave them, Jason," she said softly. "It's not worth it."

Jason looked at the three humans huddling in the center of the room for a few minutes, then shook his head and turned away. "You're right. They're not worth our time."

The tall, brown-haired woman said, "come on, let's move."

Liam walked over to Evan. "You coming, Evan? If you stay here you'll be killed or worse. Do you really want to become like Sarah and the others?"

"Can you drop me off at the mansion?" Evan asked. "I… I want to talk to the X-Men. I owe them an explanation."

Liam nodded. "Fair enough. I'll talk to Wildcat about it."

"Wildcat? The girl from the Weapon X project?" Evan exclaimed. Liam nodded and Evan continued, "I know where the other Weapon X mutant is. Does… does she want to meet him, maybe?"

Liam shrugged. "I couldn't say. I don't know her too well just yet. We only met a few times, when they could get past security. And it was mainly Twilight who spoke with us."

They'd been walking as they talked, and by now they were in the courtyard. A smallish jet waited, the boarding ramp down. Evan and Liam were the last ones on, and Twilight had already taken her place in the pilot seat. She looked back, grinning, and said, "I'll be your pilot for this evening. Please take your seats and buckle your seatbelts. The in-flight movie will be 'Stars flashing by as the jet flies through the sky' and our ETA depends on whether Wildcat wants us to stay at our country or city base."

Liam spoke up. "Wildcat, could we stop at Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted? Evan has some… unfinished business to take care of."

Wildcat nodded. "Of course. We're by no means expected anywhere. We could go partying if we wanted to."

The red-haired guy laughed. "Yeah, we'd be real popular in this leather. By the way, I'm Lumino, for those of you who don't know. Our fearless leader here is Wildcat, the starry chick is Twilight and the short blonde is Metaphysia. Welcome to the Zenith."

Liam quickly introduced them all. The black-haired guy who'd been at the computer was Toby, the short woman with close-cropped brown hair was Zoë, the dark-skinned woman who made the purple haze was, fairly obviously, Zhan, and the silver-and-white-haired woman was Theresa.

"Evan here's Alpha-prime 24601," Liam explained. "The guy we were telling you about. He stayed with the X-Men for a while."

Metaphysia glanced at Wildcat. "You see? I told you we should contact them. They obviously know about the base, and they might have been helpful. Everything I've told you points to the assumption that they'd hate Russell as much as we all do."

Wildcat said calmly, "Kimberley, calm down. We'll talk to them tonight."

Evan looked at the blonde woman, a frown furrowing his brow. "Kimberley? And… your power is controlling metal?"

"Yes, why?" the woman asked. Then she turned to him fully and cocked her head. "Wait… are you…"

"Evan Remington," Liam supplied. "Your brother, Kimberley. I'd suspected it ever since we met you, but I wasn't sure. Now I can see the resemblance."

The two **_did_** look alike. Both were short and slender, muscled like fighters, possessed of that dancer's grace. Both had blonde hair and green-grey eyes. Kimberley gasped, "it **_is_** you! I've been looking for you for ten years. They moved the base before I could get back, and I didn't know how to find you. But then Rachael and I joined forces. Zach came a little later, and Anya a year after him. They've been helping me look for you and we've all been trying to find Dr. Russell. She's the only thing Rachael can remember before she was… experimented on."

"Lumino's Zach, I'm Anya and Wildcat is Rachael, by the way," Twilight supplied. "Kimberley tends to forget to explain things."

Rachael grinned. "Well, it felt good to give Russell a good kick in the ass. We wrecked most of their equipment, and we gave the other mutants the opportunity to escape. Whether they want to is another matter, I'm afraid."

Liam spoke up again. "Rachael, Evan knows the other Weapon X victim. We thought you might want to meet him. Not that he'd remember much about you, now that I think about it. All you remember are glimpses of another person, right?"

"That's right," Rachael replied. "But I would like to meet him. Perhaps together we can find some of the truth behind the walls in our minds."

Theresa said, "we could always—"

"No," Rachael interrupted. "I know what you're about to suggest and I won't hear of it. Calling up memories is hard, and at any rate you don't want to have to see what they did to us. I won't allow you to try and access the files buried in your minds."

"I've already accessed some," Evan said. "Not a lot, and not nearly enough to help you remember much, but I do know that Dr. Russell was the one behind the Weapon X project. And that they tried to use Sabretooth as a subject, but he killed the guards sent for him. You two, you and Wolverine, you're the only survivors. All the others were…"

He trailed off and Anya nodded grimly. "We thought so," she said, "but we weren't sure. Why were all the others killed?"

"They didn't have healing factors," Evan replied. "The experimentation done on them killed them."

There was silence in the jet for a while. Then Toby spoke for the first time.

"They'll start it up again. People like Dr. Russell don't give up easily."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, we know. But we'll always be there. As a part of the Zenith, if they'll take us, or on our own. We'll follow Russell and her cronies wherever they go, and we won't give them a moments' peace until they regret the day they ever started experimenting on mutants."

Rachael smiled. "You're welcome to join us," she said. "We could always use fighters of your caliber. Zach, Kimberley, Anya and I are the only ones in the Zenith. More teammates would greatly increase our chances of success. And I want to go after that bitch, too. I owe her for doing this shit to me."

She looked at Evan. "You're welcome to join us too, Evan."

Evan hesitated. _((I'm not an X-Man, but can I just up and leave, after everything they've done for me? But then, these people are mutants I've known for as long as I can remember. And my **sister** is among them.))_

He said, "I'm going to have to think on it. Stay with the X-Men for a few days, get to know them. Maybe you can work together. And when you decide to leave, I'll give you my answer."

Rachael nodded. "All right. Anya, what's the ETA at the mansion?"

"About ten minutes," Anya replied. "Buckle your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sending this baby into overdrive."

As the jet landed on the basketball court ten minutes later, Evan could see students running out, stopping short and staring at the silver jet like it was an alien spaceship. He glanced at Rachael and said, "maybe I'd better go first. They'll recognise me."

Rachael nodded and Anya let down the boarding ramp. Evan walked down and was immediately engulfed by Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee and Storm. He pulled away from them, laughing softly.

"Hey, relax. I'm fine," he assured them. "Can someone get the Professor, Jean and Scott out here? And Logan, if he's still around. There are some people I want you to meet."

^^^

Several hours later, Storm was walking through the garden when she spotted Evan sitting on the crest of a hill, staring at the full moon. She walked up and asked, "mind a little company?"

He smiled at the reminder of the first day they'd really talked. "Go ahead," he said, turning back to the bright orb in the sky.

Storm sat down and asked, "what's on your mind?"

"How did you get back here?"

"That guy you called Jason, he took us in the van again. He said something about a rebellion and that you were needed, but he wouldn't tell us anything else," Storm replied. "He said that you'd be okay and that he hadn't planned it to happen the way it did. But that's not all that's bothering you."

"Kimberley is my sister," Evan said flatly.

Storm nodded. "Yes, I know. You told us that already. I think it's wonderful that you've finally found her. But that's not what you're thinking about, is it?"

"Not entirely. Ororo… they asked me to go with them. Become one of the Zenith."

Storm was silent for a few minutes. When she finally spoke, she asked, "what are you going to do?"

"I don't know! I owe you all so much, and I've come to feel more at ease here, but… Kimberley **_is_** my sister, and the Zenith do understand me. The Alphas are mutants I've known for as long as I can remember. My family, or what I have left of one, anyway. A part of me wants to go with them," Evan amended. He raked his hands through his blonde hair and said, "at the same time, another part of me doesn't want to leave the mansion. I've grown close to you all, especially Marie, Kitty and Jubilation. I love teaching the students, and I've even started to remember a few things."

He sighed. "But I want to make sure Dr. Russell doesn't destroy any more lives, and the Zenith may be my best chance. And no matter how advanced Jean's memory inducer is, Kimberley knows more about me than I can possibly remember. And… I feel like I belong with them. I've never felt that about anyone before. Even here, I'm different to all of you."

He looked back up at the moon, letting blonde hair fall into his eyes. Storm gently touched his shoulder.

"Do what your heart says, Evan. I know you'll do the right thing."

He looked up at her and said, "but my heart doesn't know what to do either. I want to be with my sister, but I want to be here, too. How am I supposed to decide?"

^^^

A few days passed, during which the Zenith had several conferences with the X-Men and finally reached an agreement that would benefit them both. Rachael told the other Zenith members about it that night.

"Basically, we work separately, since our work is different to the X-Men's work," she began, "but if we ever need help we can contact them. And vice versa. Evan, you're welcome with us or with the X-Men, it's your choice."

Kimberley looked at Evan, a plea in her eyes. "Please stay with us, Evan," she implored. "I've spent so long looking for you, I can't lose you again. Not when I've only just found you."

Evan ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I don't know what to do. I owe the X-Men so much, but at the same time I don't belong here. And nothing sounds better than being with my sister again, but… honestly, how much can I hope to remember? I don't even know you, Kimberley. I barely remember what I used to be like as a kid, let alone any details about our relationship. I'm not the same guy you remember."

"We'll help you regain your memories," Zach said quietly. "We have technology that's far beyond anything the X-Men have created. Comes of infiltrating the Weapon X project. They have too much stuff lying around."

Kimberley turned serious grey eyes to Evan. "The last day I saw you, ten years ago, you said you'd look after me no matter what happened. I won't hold you to that; you don't remember saying it so it's not really fair to expect you to want to stay with me. But I swear one thing, Evan. I'll look after you, no matter what happens. Come fire, flood or the next Ice Age, I won't let Russell get her hands on you again. Any of you. The Alpha-primes aren't going back to that hell-hole, and she's not going to create more amnesiacs like Rachael and your friend Logan."

Evan smiled. "That sounds like you, Kim," he said fondly. "I remember that much; you never did like bullies or racists."

He sighed. "I guess that's my decision. I can't just let Russell get away with all the horrors she's inflicted on mutantkind over the past twenty years. I'll join you. But I need to talk to someone first."

"Of course," Anya said. "Rachael, can you help me reconfigure the jet's engines to use the fuel more efficiently? I noticed we were leaking a little on our last flight. Zach, if you could provide us with light it'd help. Kimberley, can you grab my work gloves for me?"

Evan grinned at Anya's not-so-subtle effort at getting the Zenith out of the way and went to find Storm.

She was sitting in the greenhouse with her plants. He walked up behind her and touched her shoulder. "Ororo? I gotta talk to you."

She turned and he could see that she'd been crying. "You're going with them, aren't you." It was more a statement than a question. Evan nodded wordlessly.

"I understand. This is what you need to do," Storm said. She brushed furiously at her eyes and muttered, "I promised myself I wouldn't cry."

"We all break promises," Evan said softly. He sat down beside Storm and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm going to miss you, Ororo."

"I'll miss you too. You've changed so much, Evan. And… and I fell in love with you."

"I know. And I know that… leaving is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done. But I have to. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes. You'll be with your sister again. And they might have a better chance of getting your memories back," Storm said, her voice choked with tears. Evan turned to face her and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Don't cry, 'Ro. I'll be back. Scott and Rachael thought it'd be a good idea if we have an alliance, the X-Men and the Zenith. I'm not vanishing from the face of the Earth."

"I know. It's just…"

She looked at Evan, tears still shining in her beautiful eyes. He gently took her face in his hands and kissed her.

"I'll be back, 'Ro. Count on it."

****

The End. Or… is it?

Knowing me, no. 

By the way, take a look at Evan's Alpha-prime designation. See anything familiar? First person to get it wins a non-existent prize!


End file.
